Salvation in the Rancher's Arms(71)

The knowledge made her bold.

“Can we rush a little?”

She wasn’t sure how much longer her body could withstand this madness. He fired things in her she didn’t have a name for, didn’t understand.

“Is that what you want?”

She nodded. “I can’t stand it much longer.” Was it supposed to be like this? A heady blend of need and desire storming through her like a tempest?

“Lift up a little.”

She did, letting his hands on her hips guide her, then slowly, maddeningly, his length filled her and she relished the sense of completion, of oneness.

She shifted and settled against him, arching her back. His hands settled on her hips and for several long seconds they remained as they were, unmoving. But soon the need for more returned and a deep instinct made Rachel move. Beneath her, she felt Caleb’s body tense. He pulled away slightly then filled her again. Pleasure flowed through her, each wave crashing harder than the next, pulling her under.

She had never experienced anything like it. She placed her hands over his where they held tightly against her hips and let her head fall back, her hair tickling the bare skin on her back. Her breath came in gasps and she became oblivious to everything but the thrilling sensations as she rocked her body back and forth against him.

Caleb’s own breathing grew labored and the groans coming from him rode a fine edge between pleasure and pain. Somewhere, in some far-off corner of her mind, Rachel wondered if she should stop, if she was hurting him, but she had lost the ability to control herself. The sweet indulgence of their bodies moving together became the only thing that mattered.

She needed this, needed it in a way she couldn’t articulate. She let her body have its way; she let it take her where it needed to go. Caleb surrounded her, encompassed her, filled and fulfilled her. And when she thought the intensity of her feelings would be the end of her, they crashed through, shattering inside of her as Caleb found his own release. His body shuddered beneath her, his fingers digging into her flesh.

In that moment, Rachel finally found a place where she belonged.

She only wished she’d found it sooner instead of now, when her time to enjoy it was about to be cut drastically short.



Caleb jerked awake and pushed himself into a sitting position, his sore muscles screeching in protest. Something had woken him from a sound sleep, but what?

He glanced around Rachel’s bedroom, his home for the past three days. As far as accommodations went, it wasn’t too bad. The room was spacious, a definite plus. He didn’t think his beaten body would welcome the hard ground for a mattress. He had steady company to keep him occupied. Ethan had taken to sleeping on the cot in the kitchen but stopped by regularly to keep Caleb abreast of everything going on around him, and Freedom applied her poultices religiously until his cuts and bruises faded considerably.

But best of all, each night, under the guise of watching over her patient, Rachel crawled into bed next to him. Their first night together dogged his memory. The feel of her hands on his body, the way she’d moved against him, abandoning herself to the pleasure. He’d wanted to make love to her again, to lose himself in the sweet bliss her body provided, but he wasn’t sure his performance would be up to par, all things considered.

He chuckled quietly, remembering their conversation of yesterday afternoon.

“Don’t be looking at me like that,” she said, setting a load of freshly laundered undergarments on top of her bureau and opening one of the drawers.

“Like what?” He caught a glimpse of her lacy underthings, a detail about her that seemed incongruous with the no-nonsense woman she was. But he suspected that, beneath all her practicality, beat the heart of a true romantic.

“Like it’s a hot summer’s day and I’m a cold drink of lemonade.”

Tart but sweet. He smiled at the comparison. “Can’t help myself. You’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

She scoffed and closed the bureau drawer. “That hit to your head has obviously addled your brain.”

Caleb patted the bed next to him then held out his hand. “Why don’t you come over here and tend to my wounds. I seem to have one particular ache that needs—”

She swatted at his hand, but not before he saw the blush coloring her cheeks. He loved how his teasing flustered her.

“You can stop that thinking right now. Your...ache...is just going to have to remain unattended.”

For a brief moment he feared she regretted what they had done, but then he saw her sly smile. “At least until you’re properly healed.”

Caleb grinned, thinking back on the promise of those words, but before he could contemplate what it all meant a shot reverberated through the early morning calm.